Christmas in Texas

Days
'Til
Christmas!

Holiday Hints Index

Building Christmas Memories

Makin' a List...

• Building Christmas Memories
• Save Holiday Dollars Online
• Keeping Santa's List Manageable

Gift giving for children seems to get pricier by the year. With record-breaking gasoline prices, tracking down the hottest gifts before they sell out adds an extra burden on household incomes. Although kids today are more bombarded with ads that feed the increasing commercialism in our culture, the opportunities to build meaningful traditions and memories for children are as plentiful as ever.

Growing up with six brothers and sisters, there was little chance for me to become spoiled by materialism. Yet, I don't remember ever feeling disappointed on Christmas morning. Of all the Christmas gifts I received growing up, I remember only one: a coral colored sweater given to me by my Aunt Val when I was six years old. I can't say why that gift has stuck in my mind all these years later, but I do remember that I loved it, wore it far beyond the point that it still fit me, and that I was terribly disappointed when it vanished.

But most of my memories of my childhood Christmases have nothing to do with the gifts. Instead, I remember simple things like making chains of colored paper and glitter to hang on the tree; the annual mystery of finding the burned out lightbulb (or lightbulbs!) that prevented the entire string of large Christmas tree lights from blazing—and the sigh of relief when at last the bad bulb was located. I remember Mama's Lazy Daisy Cake with roasted pecan and coconut frosting. I remember slabs of dark, nutty fudge, and snow white mounds of divinity candy. I remember warming our rear ends in front of the big Dearborn stove while we waited for everyone in our large household to get out of bed so we could begin Christmas morning by the tree. I remember us younger kids praying that Mama didn't put oysters in the cornbread dressing. I remember the smell of hard candy and oranges we found in the socks we'd left under the tree the night before.

As you think back to your own childhood, chances are your memories aren't about things so much as they are about activities and experiences that were as predictable as the holiday season itself.

So while your kids may or may not remember the latest X-Box system (but they swear they can't live without it!) that you finally managed to hunt down after a series of 75 phone calls and trips to eight 8 different shopping malls, they are quite likely to remember the annual Christmas Eve visit to the relatives', the corny Christmas songs you sing every year, the toy and food drive the family collects for each year, the cookies you and the kids bake for family and friends (including Santa), and the church Christmas pageant you haul them to each year. Simple traditions like these provide a thread of continuity from the holidays of your childhood to the holidays of your grandchildren and beyond.

Whether or not you decide that this year the X-Box is worth the phone calls and trips to the mall, you can still make sure your children have a memorable Christmas by holding to your family's unique holiday rituals.